Content marketing is a very powerful way to promote your tours and activities. But sometimes you need somebody else to write that content about your product. This is when having a solid blogger outreach content strategy in place comes in handy.

Travel bloggers regularly work with companies in the travel industry all over the world. More times than not, the blogger uses the company’s product and then writes about it. This subsequently increases awareness of that product.

If you’re thinking of working with travel bloggers and want to know how to get the most out of your collaboration(s), here are 10 tips…

1. Decipher why you want to work with them

Before you work with a travel blogger, figure out what is it you want from the collaboration – what are the key metrics. Is it traffic? Do you want them to take photos? Are you looking for an increase in your social following numbers? Once you know, it will make figuring out whether it was a success or not much easier.

2. Figure out how and where you’re going to meet them

There are lots of places to meet travel bloggers. These range from travel blogging conferences like TBEX, to travel trade shows like ITB Berlin. Travel Twitter chats are another good place to meet them. When you’ve figured out why you want to engage with them, you’re going to need to meet them. These are good places to start.

3. Be transparent from the outset

Before working with a travel blogger, explain exactly what you want, what you expect and what you’re offering. This can cover everything from ownership of content to remuneration. Once you do, it will make the overall relationship far less troublesome for both parties.

4. Be genuine!

This might seem pretty obvious, but a lot of the time businesses contact travel bloggers pretending to be interested in their travels when all they’re interested in is their numbers. If you are only interested in numbers, there’s no problem with it. Just make sure you say it. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not as travel bloggers will see through you.

5. When being contacted, do your homework

There may be instances where travel bloggers contact you looking for something in return for a mention on their site. When this is the case, do your homework before getting involved in anything. Check their social numbers, look at their website and see how they’re positioned. Does their content suit your target market? Can they write? Are their social numbers impressive? Check these out before engaging in any conversation.

6. Figuring out what to write about

When you’ve come to an agreement with a travel blogger that everybody is happy about, the next step is creating the content. When it comes to this, ensure the content is ‘evergreen’. This means it will be as relevant in five years time as it is the day it’s published. Both you and the blogger will benefit from this – you in terms of brand awareness and traffic referrals; the blogger in terms of traffic.

7. Try to be innovative

Having a blogger write about your product is great, but it’s been done before thousands of times. Have a quick brainstorm with the blogger and see are there other ways you can collaborate. Maybe they could take control of your Instagram account for a day or maybe you could do a live Google Hangout with them? Whatever way you work with each other, try to think outside of the box.

8. Make sure content sharing agreements are being met

One of the main reasons to work with travel bloggers is their reach. A lot of them have huge Twitter followings and thousands of Likes on Facebook meaning they can bring your tour or activity company to a wide audience. Make sure they do so by going on to their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages to see if everything that was agreed upon is being met.

9. Ask for the right metrics

A blogger can offer lots of metrics, but you need to know what ones you should be asking for. This will be determined by your initial objectives, but these are some of the key metrics you should be asking for:- Blog: Pages views (of the post, not the site); time spent on page; nationalities of people visiting page- Facebook: Number of clicks, reach, likes, shares, comments- Twitter: RTs; Favourites; clicks; impressions; engagements- Instagram: Likes

10. Analyse the data

After the collaboration or campaign is over, look at all the statistics. Have your social numbers grown? Did your website receive a lot of traffic? Did the bloggers’ post generate bookings? Look at these stats then see what (and if) you will do anything differently.

Have you worked with any travel bloggers?

Want to receive even more exclusive tips on how to build your business?

Colm is Founder and Managing Director of digital marketing agency Sixtwo Digital. After running Hostelworld.com’s content and social media for almost 11 years he felt it was time to branch out on his own, using all his experience to educate others in the travel space.